Cambodia charges opposition leader with treason

Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha has been charged with treason and could face a jail term of 15 to 30 years if convicted. Picture: AP Photo/Heng Sinith, File

Phnom Penh - Cambodian opposition leader
Kem Sokha has been charged with treason and could face a jail
term of 15 to 30 years if convicted, a court said on Tuesday.

Kem Sokha was arrested on Sunday in an escalating crackdown
on critics of Prime Minister Hun Sen's government, which accused
the opposition leader of plotting with the United States to
undermine the Southeast Asian country.

Kem Sokha had been charged with "colluding with foreigners"
under Article 443 of Cambodia's penal code, the Phnom Penh
Municipal Court said in a statement.

"The act of secret collusion with foreigners is an act of
treason," it added.

The evidence the government has presented is a video of Kem
Sokha from 2013 in which he tells supporters of his Cambodia
National Rescue Party (CNRP) that he has had American support
and advice for his political strategy to win power.

One of the opposition leader's lawyers, Pheng Heng, said
what appeared in the video clip was no crime.

"The legal procedure is wrong and the charge isn't correct,"
he said. "His words are educational in a workshop ... What he
talked about was elections in a multi-party democratic way."

The arrest of Kem Sokha and growing pressure on independent
media and rights groups have drawn condemnation from the United
States and other Western countries, which have raised questions
over whether a general election next year can be fair.

But Hun Sen, one of Asia's longest serving rulers, has won
support from China, which has made him one of its closest
regional allies and provided billions of dollars in
infrastructure loans.

The election could represent Hun Sen's greatest electoral
challenge in more than three decades in power, but his opponents
accuse him of trying to shut down all opposition in advance.

Lawyers met Kem Sokha on Monday for 20 minutes and said his
health was fine.

"I may lose freedom, but may freedom never die in Cambodia,"
Kem Sokha was quoted as saying in a post on Twitter that was
repeated by his daughter, Monovithya Kem.

The European Union has called for his immediate release,
based on the fact that he is meant to have parliamentary
immunity, as an elected lawmaker.

The U.S. State Department expressed "grave concern" at his
arrest on charges it said appeared to be politically motivated.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad
al-Hussein said on Monday he was seriously concerned about the
arrest and the evidence against the opposition leader.